Thy Will, O Lord, Be Done
188

Text: Frank I. Kooyman (1880–1963; LDS)
Music: Robert P. Manookin (1918–1997; LDS)
Tune name: HELENE

“Thy will, O Lord, be done”: these words spoken by the Savior conclude each verse of this hymn. In verse one, these words take us back to the pre-mortal council, when the Savior offered himself as a willing sacrifice for mankind. In verse two, these words reflect the Savior’s life of service to his Father. In verse three, they remind us of the Redeemer’s agony— and his obedience— in Gethsemane. But in verse four, it is the congregation that offers this sacred commitment. As we contemplate the Savior’s sacrifice and prepare ourselves to take the bread and water that are its symbol, his words become our words.

The hymn offers a uniquely Latter- day Saint perspective on the Savior’s sacrifice, focusing on the premortal selection of Jesus for this role. As

J. Spencer Cornwall said of this hymn, “What a field for contemplation is opened here for heart and mind to enter while the sacred emblems of the body and blood of the Sinless One are being passed!” (Stories of Our Mormon Hymns, 213).

The story of the hymn tune (named HELENE in honor of the wife of Robert P. Manookin) is an example of how some of our finest hymns— some of the most successful matchings of tune and text— come into being in a roundabout way. “Brother Michael Moody gave me the poem by President Gordon B. Hinckley, ‘My Redeemer Lives,’ and asked that I set it to music,” related Robert Manookin. “Elder G. Homer Durham had also set the same poem to music, and his setting was chosen for publication [no. 135]. My setting of that poem accounts, in the last phrase, for the rise of a sixth in the melody to emphasize the words ‘my King’ in verse one. The music committee kindly made use of the music by matching it to the words of Brother Kooyman. The final phrase also fits well with his words.”

Under the title “When in the Wondrous Realms Above,” and with a different hymn tune, Frank I. Kooyman’s words were part of the 1950 hymnal.